The Missouri House of Representatives voted 108 to 33 to approve an omnibus anti-abortion bill on Tuesday. The bill is marketed as an anti-coercion bill. It prohibits forcing a woman to have an abortion and would penalize the doctor who provided the abortion if the doctor suspected that the women had been coerced.
The bill also includes a provision requiring women to have an ultrasound before having an abortion. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report states that abortion providers would have to post signs saying, “There are many public and private agencies willing and able to help you carry your child to term and to assist you and your child after your child is born. The state of Missouri encourages you to contact those agencies before making a final decision about abortion.”
The bill has another vote in the Missouri House before it moves on to the state Senate.
Oklahoma and Kentucky legislatures have tried to pass similar legislation.
